Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Adherence to Schedule is 'Key Challenge' for Call Center Managers
Monet Software officials recently posted a blogentry noting that in a recent survey and study by ICMI, one of the top challenges mentioned by call center managers was “consistent adherence to schedule.” Nobody who’s worked as a call center manager is in the least surprised by this, of course.
The blog mentions that in another study by DMG, over 30 percent of call center managers indicated that agent adherence is a key challenge. Again, no surprise at all to anybody in the business.
In fact, Monetofficialssay, “In December 2009, we did a workforce management survey and asked call centers (non customers) about their practices regarding forecasting and scheduling. One question was related to schedule adherence. We were surprised that 50 percent did not monitor schedule adherence. Lack of schedule adherence causes inefficiencies such as increased shrinkage and declining service levels.”
Of course, there might be several reasons for this based on call center specifics, the blog notes, “but one statement is probably true for all: You can only manage agent adherence if you have a way to measure it. Many call centers still have no reliable way to track and monitor adherence.”
Monet officials go on to recommend workforce management, saying the products can help in two ways:
Real-time adherence. At any moment you can see if members of your team are adhering to the schedule, or not. Real-time monitoring is a key element to better manage call center performance throughout the day, especially if the call volume fluctuates and you don’t need the “out of adherence” challenge on top of it.
Adherence reporting. The reporting help you to compare adherence for certain time periods, certain teams, etc. You are able to identify potential causes for low service levels or other issues. In addition, it helps you proactively work with you team, educate about the importance of adherence and provide a “fair” way to motivate and promote positive behavior.
“Again, only if you can measure it, you can actually start improving adherence,” Monet officials say -- accurately. Again, as anybody who’s been tasked with improving adherence knows.
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.
Edited by Chris DiMarco